Athletes welcome being on track after power company donation

Runners from Hadleigh Hares athletics club got a rare excursion out on the track after a donation from UK Power Networks.

The power company, which delivers electricity to eight million customers across the East of England, London and the South East, has given Hadleigh Hares a much-needed £250 grant as part of its Team Sport Award scheme.

It donated the money through employee Rachael Raine, a coach at the club, who helped arrange the hire of the track at Northgate Leisure Centre in Ipswich.Rachael, who works for the company’s Connections team in the Bury St Edmund’s office, said: “Hadleigh is quite a small Suffolk town so as a club we are not fortunate enough to have access to our own track to train on which is why we wanted to arrange this day.“Everyone is keen to improve as much as they can and we all had a brilliant time out on the track with the lights on.

“We mainly did our usual type of training, but held a few fun races as well just to keep it interesting and ensure that people got a sense of the extra pressures of competing on a track and work on their speed.

“This is the second time I have applied for this award through the company and it’s a great cash boost for the club to offer members something extra to enjoy.”

The Team Sport Award scheme encourages staff to volunteer in the community and is aimed at promoting healthy living, teamwork and development of sporting opportunities.

Hundreds of community and sports groups have benefited from grants since the scheme was set up. Last year £18,000 was donated to sporting groups connected to UK Power Networks staff.